Homeless!

Ok, not quite homeless, but we are no longer living in our London flat.  We moved out on the 27th Nov so for over a week now our tenant has been enjoying our lovely home.  Fortunately we are not out on the street as my Mom is kind enough to let us stay with her.  This also means we are re-united with our cat who was, to say the least, very pleased to see us.

Leaving the flat was very emotional - not tears (!), just a very strange feeling.  We've moved around a lot over the years but we've normally moved out of a property never to go back again as we've sold it.  This time we moved out leaving furniture there for our tenant to use, knowing that some day in the future we would be moving back there. 

During the past week or so we have done quite a bit, some for the trip, most for Christmas.  Not working sure does help with Christmas shopping time :)  We've pretty much finished our shopping now - does that make me less of a man, having finished my shopping before Xmas eve?!?  Surely real men leave the shopping to the last minute.

We also found a great army surplus store in Harborne (Birmingham) which had the final bits and pieces we needed for our trip (poncho, water bottle, shorts that fit given how much weight I've lost).  Amazing what kind of 'kit' you can buy in these places - anyone need a flak vest?

On Sunday we headed into Brum for a visit to the traditional German Market - very nice but bloomin' cold.  The snow has mostly gone now but the ice and frost, and very cold wind is still here.  Wrapping up warm, and a pork bap with stuffing, was the name of the game.

Luckily we've managed to join the local gym in Tipton; home of Tipton Harriers, Tipton Town FC and where the best footballer the world has ever known (Steve Bull) started his career.  They had a special deal on, 15 quid for 15 days gym use, and as I use the gym every day this is superb value for many.  Rachel also joined so we can both keep our fitness levels up. Mostly just treadmill work and hill work - well, we are going to the Waterberg mountains in South Africa!

Our next big thing is a week in Cornwall, staying with our friends Joe and Laura.  This will be next week's pleasure so def' something to look forward to.  Hope they have the log fire burning and cosy :)

Oh yeah, and thanks to all those who came to our leaving party at the Lamb Tavern in London on 25th November.  A great night was had by all (well, we enjoyed ourselves anyway!).  Plenty karaoke singing, lots of beer, and lots of friends to see us off.  Andy and Liz (Fever Karaoke) run a brilliant night and we look forward to more in years to come. A special mention to Dave H and Colin too for taking some photos on the night and posting to Facebook.  We are going to miss you guys next year - keep singing, and don't forget us!